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Best Your Lips But Better Lip Color

What's the Best Your Lips But Better Lip Color that you've tried?

I tend to use Guerlain Giny/Gillian, because they’re not quite as muted/corpse-y as my natural lip color, so they brighten and warm up my lips.

Thanks to Angela for today’s topic!

— Christine

81 Comments

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Celia Avatar

Always and forever my beloved Stila Natalie. I miss this shade so, so much. It was the perfect berry MLBB for me, which made sense since it was inspired by Natalie Portman’s lip color and we have similar coloring. I will never not miss it and forever be searching for its perfect dupe (no luck yet. Lots of close ones, but nothing perfectly true on me). I’ve even thought of sending in one of my super old tubes with only the slightest scrap of product left to one of those companies that replicates colors. Nothing struck the red-violet-berry-mauve-purple aspect of my lips as well and as seamlessly. It was my exact lip color so wearing it brightened up everything and made my lips look perfectly freshly-balmed at all times instead of made-up. I wore it to every on-camera audition for years.

Tet Avatar

Can you post a photo wearing this lipstick. THANKS.
I have a very similar skin tone to you and I ALWAYS check your posts and swatches before I buy any cosmetics.
#thankful #spoilt.

Jessie Avatar

Wing Woman by Benefit Cosmetics. It applies smoothly, and feels more like a lip balm than lip stick. Colour is quite sheer, and gives my lips a slight nude-peachy glow despite looking quite dark in the tube. It’s my perfect no-makeup pick-me-upper.

Mariella Avatar

Don’t laugh – I had to read the question 3 or 4 times before I realized it was about a “your lips but better” shade (I think the all capitals made it hard for me to realize it was that expression). My first choice would probably be MAC Brick-o-la.

Amy Avatar

It’s a real tossup between Too Faced spice spice baby and Too Faced pink chocolate. TF La Creme my favorite lipstick formula overall because it’s so comfortable on the lips and even hydrating. The gold tube packaging also has a great weight to it and it feels very nice in hand.

Spice spice is a slightly pinker version of my lips but doesn’t add more color intensity. The overall effect is to make my lips look very smooth and a bit glossy, but doesn’t quite scream “LIPSTICK!!!”

Pink chocolate adds more intensity than spice spice so it kind of feels like a dressed up version of spice spice.

Bea Avatar

Bite Beauty Pepper! My go-to every day warm dusty rose, and it’s extremely moisturizing to boot. Love love love! I might branch out to include Shiraz for the winter because I can’t get enough of the formula.

Momo Avatar

MAC Lustre Lipstick in TOUCH

OMG! This color is perfection for my brown-pink lips! It’s not too dark and it’s not too pale. Sometimes I throw a clear lipgloss over it and I’m dead! It looks so convincing as my own lips, but slightly pinker. It may be considered a nude, but it’s not as scary as other nude lipsticks, on the market, that I’ve seen and tried. I highly recommend it to women of color.

The runner-up would be MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in OFFSHOOT, which is a very natural-looking, pinky-plum shade; great for dark skin ladies with deeper pink lips.

Nancy T Avatar

My favorites, depending on the overall look I have on, would be: Too Faced Pink Chocolate, UD Liar, MAC Cosmo, Touch or Ultimate Lipstick in Marque, if I want a shimmery MLBB, Guerlain Air Kiss or MAC VG V.

I almost put MAC Royally Riotous or Rich Marron on here, but figured both fell more into the new brown lippy resurgence. Whereas I did include Touch because it allows my own lip color to show through.

sleepybird Avatar

UD Sheer Revolution in Beso. Just enough color so it doesn’t look like just a balm, but not so much that I need to fuss with lip liner. I could ALMOST apply it without a mirror and still probably look alright. Although I haven’t tried that yet.?

Cynthia Avatar

My lips are quite pigmented, so YSL Rebel Nude 107 (Naughty Mauve). I’d actually love it, if you could give us some color dupes for it, Christine!

Mara Avatar

I am slightly obsessed with MLBB shades and I always save these posts for future reference. My fav shade has got to be MUFE’s N9, it’s absolutely perfect for me. I also like Revlon’s Lip Butters in Pink Truffle and Macaroon.

Fran Avatar

NARS Anna is extremely close to my natural lip color, just slightly pinker (less purple), but I look better in brighter (and slightly glossier) shades. I haven’t found a lip color that I really love that really fits the MLBB category. I actually think that as one gets older, bright lip colors become more flattering. It’s been true for me, at least. Give me NARS Sylvia, Fanny, or Greta over Anna any day that I’m not wearing bright green eyeshadow (I wore Anna this morning with Acid Rain and Mildew from the new Vice Ltd palette, lol). Clinique Quickliner in Sky Violet is also close to my natural lip color, it looks much more natural on me than any “nude” lip liner does.

Shea Avatar

Probably not a traditional answer, but Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm in Sunny Berry. I use it nearly every day, makes my lips feel fantastic, and it gives my lips a very natural flush of color.

Rosie Avatar

Ciate Olivia Palermo in Praline is my favorite my lips but better lip shade. I love it for me. My lips have this brown-mauvy shade and nude lipsticks and pink lipsticks aren’t exactly flattering all the time. This shade however, is perfect for me and doesn’t wash me out. Love it.

Susana Avatar

Mine is Too Faced La Créme in Sweet Maple. My lips are quite pigmented, and Swet Maple adds a subtle hint of extra color that looks very natural. It’s not drying and it lasts for a few hours, so it’s perfect for everyday wear.

Victoria Avatar

I got only a few and the ones I love to bits is the Urban Decay Revolution lipstick in Rush and Naked. Just to quickly put it on and be out on the go is just amazing, I love the formula so much that I use it more than any other lipsticks I own. And because of them, they are just the reason why I’ve started wearing lipsticks.

Not only the colours are most flattering on me, but it makes me feel so complete whenever I wear it. Of course I love some of my Mac lipsticks and a few of my La Creme lipsticks, the Urban Decay ones beat them all by a landslide.

Lisa Avatar

Mine was Benefit Liar lipstick. Unfortunately it’s long been discontinued (this was like 10 years ago). I still have one left – I obviously don’t wear it! – to try and colour match it to others I find. No luck yet on finding the perfect shade. Urban Decay Requiem came close, but that’s been discontinued too. I thought UD Liar would work, but it’s the exact same colour as my lips. Right now I’ve been digging Buxom Hooligan, but it makes my lips looks slightly browner than they are.

Allison Avatar

This is something that tends to be highly personal. I spent so much cash and time trying dozens of lipsticks trying to find my perfect MLBB, but as it turns out, MUFE N9, that sample that comes with a lot of Sephora promos, is perfect on me. Go figure.

Bibi Avatar

EL’s Pink Parfait- Yes, it has a tiny bit of shimmer. But that shimmer looks more like a pearly glow than being too frosty or glittery. It’s a cool toned natural nude pink, subtle enough that you don’t need a mirror to put it on yet just bright enough to give a little extra ‘oomph’ to my lips.

Second runner up is IT Cosmetics Vitality Lip Flush 4-in-1 Natural Anti-Aging Lipstick Stain in Je Nais Se Quoi- What’s not to love? Goes on clear, moisturizes well, don’t need a mirror to put it on, & stains my lips a very natural looking rose pink for hours.

Soph Schrader Avatar

Nothing can top NYX butter gloss in tiramisu – i’m always looking for a matte lipstick that looks the same but can’t find anything close!

Shannon Avatar

My absolute best “my lips only better” lipstick is Mary Kay True Dimensions lipstick in “Color Me Coral!” I can actually apply it without having any other makeup on my face at all and it looks completely balanced, natural and normal and like a colour that just belongs there on my face, lol! Only..it is somewhat better than my actual natural lip colour because it has some really nice brightness and sheen that my natural lips obviously don’t have, so it makes me feel prettier. 🙂 It doesn’t look so bright on me that it doesn’t seem natural though,it’s really surprisingly subtle on me!

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